


A Fresh Start

by seasonofthegeek



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged Up, Flirting, Friendship, nathanette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 03:32:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13022361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasonofthegeek/pseuds/seasonofthegeek
Summary: Nathaniel comes back to Paris after a few years away and reconnects with an old friend.





	A Fresh Start

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tobashii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tobashii/gifts).



“Nathaniel!” Marinette beamed from behind the bakery counter.

Nathaniel waved awkwardly. “Hi.”

She rounded the counter with a smile. “It’s so good to see you,” she exclaimed, hugging him tightly. 

He stiffened for a moment before hugging her back. “It’s good to see you too. This place hasn’t changed a bit.”

She stepped back with a sly grin. “Come on now. We’ve gotten new flooring and counters in the last year.”

He laughed and held up a hand. “Please forgive me.”

“You’re forgiven, I suppose,” she teased. “Have you moved back or just in town for the holidays?”

“Holidays. My mom remarried last year and we’re doing a big Christmas this year. We’ll see how it goes.”

“You mean after all these years of me begging you to celebrate Christmas, it might actually happen?”

“Apparently we don’t have to be Jewish anymore,” he shrugged sheepishly. 

She bit her lip. “It’s really good to have you back, even if it is temporary.”

Nathaniel flushed. He didn’t know what it was about coming back here that made him feel like an awkward teenage boy again. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that no matter how many years it had been, Marinette was prettier than ever. Her hair was pulled up into twin buns at the top of her head, festive red and green ribbons dangling from them and her eyes twinkled as she spoke. He realized those eyes were now staring at him and he wasn’t sure how much time had passed since she’d last spoken. He cleared his throat. “Uh, what about you? I heard you had moved away.”

Something flashed across her face but whatever it had been was quickly replaced with a smile. “I did for a while. Now I’m back.”

“Still upstairs?”

“No. That was one of my stipulations on coming back,” she laughed. “I have a place not too far from here. What about you? Braving the Kurtzberg household during your stay?”

He grimaced. “Yeah, I doubt I’ll make it the whole time though. Apparently, Noah, Abraham, and I are all going to fit in one queen size bed.”

“Last time I saw Noah, he was over six feet.”

“And then some.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I have a couch if you need it,” she offered. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he smiled. His phone buzzed and he looked down at it with a frown. “Ah, running behind as usual. I better get going.”

“Sure,” Marinette nodded. “Wait! Did you come in for something or…” She trailed off, gesturing to display case. 

“I got what I came for,” he grinned before stepping outside.

Marinette watched him walk along the sidewalk and disappear when the bakery windows ended. She couldn’t keep the smile off her face even long after he had gone.  
________________________

“He has long hair.”

Alya blinked groggily up at Marinette. “Who does?”

“Nathaniel. He has pretty, long, red hair.”

“You know that apartment key is for emergencies, right?” she grumbled, burying her face in a pillow.

“He was wearing this dark purple scarf and a gray coat and he looked so good, Al. What am I going to do?”

“Go start my coffee maker before I accidentally kill you? And stop mentioning colors. It’s weird.”

Marinette huffed, standing and going into Alya’s messy kitchen. She moved things around until she found the coffee and the pot was almost full by the time Alya trudged in, hair in a messy bun and frown in place.

“Like I was saying—“

Alya pressed two fingers to Marinette’s lips. “Coffee.”

Marinette reached for a mug and handed it to her, offering cream and sugar. “Can I speak now?”

“If you must.”

“Your mom is going to kill you when she sees this kitchen.”

“Good thing I’m going to their place for Christmas this year then,” Alya muttered, taking a sip of coffee. “I don’t have time to clean.”

“Then I’ll talk fast.”

Alya rolled her eyes but grinned as she raised the mug again. “So Nath is back, huh?”

“Just for Christmas.”

“And he came to see you?”

“Yes.”

“Then go out with him while he’s here and be done with it.”

“Alya.”

“Yes?”

“You know I’ve kind of always regretted things not working out for us to date.”

“I believe I recall something like that, yes,” Alya nodded patronizingly.

“And what if this is my second chance? What if everything that happened in Milan with my job and with Jacob and everything was just so I could come back here and reconnect with Nathaniel?” Marinette asked, eyes bright. “It’s a sign.”

“Slow down, M, and take a breath.” Alya pushed aside of stack of unopened mail and set her mug on the counter. “What happened back there sucks and you didn’t deserve any of it, okay? But I don’t think you need to start taking everything as a sign now.”

“But—“

“For instance,” Alya interrupted, “that store having one pink scarf left when we were shopping the other day was not a sign that you should throw out all of your clothes that aren’t pink.”

“Okay, I admit that was a ridiculous thing to suggest, but—“

“Nino playing a song he knows you like was not a sign that you should become vegan because we were talking about it when it came on.”

“The health benefits are—“

“Girl,” Alya said gently, “you need to just let yourself live. You’ve been grasping at everything for a meaning since you came back and sometimes that’s just not how life goes. Go out with Nathaniel. Have a good time. Have a Christmas fling and then say goodbye when he goes back to wherever he’s been living.”

“London.”

“Fine,” she nodded. “The point is, you need to let yourself just see what happens. As long as I’ve known you, you’ve planned everything. It’s time to let go.”

“I think I can do that,” Marinette replied slowly.

“I think you can too.”   
________________________

“I’m glad you called,” Nathaniel grinned, handing Marinette one of the snowflake shaped cookies. “I was hoping I would get to see you again soon.”

“Well, we do have a lot to catch up on,” Marinette replied, nibbling on the edge of the cookie. “For instance, what kind of conditioner do you use because it’s not fair that your hair looks softer than mine.”

He laughed and took the offered hot cocoas from the street vendor. Marinette pointed to a low wall and they walked over and sat down on it to enjoy their treats. “It’s some fancy conditioner that costs way too much but smells really good. My, uh, my ex used to buy it for me and I kinda got hooked.”

“Ooo, are we jumping into the ex talk because I think I’m going to win,” Marinette sighed.

“Bad break-up?”

“Nuclear. Yours?”

Nathaniel set his cocoa down and braced his hands on the ledge, leaning back. “Mine was more that I was really into her and she got bored with me.” He shrugged but folded in on himself a little. “It was mostly amicable though. I couldn’t really be mad at her for not loving me the way I hoped she would. Well, I guess I could’ve gotten mad, but it wouldn’t have changed anything. It feels like personal growth anyway.”

She nodded. “I get that.”

“What about you?”

Marinette wrapped her pink mitten-covered hands around her cup, puffy pom-poms dangling from her wrists. “I was doing really well at a fashion house and I started seeing this guy who worked there. People warned me it was dangerous to date someone I was technically in competition with, but you know, love.”

“Ah, love.”

“It makes idiots of us all.”

Nathaniel chuckled and took a bite of his cookie.

“Anyway, a big campaign was coming up and I was working my butt off for it and…” She trailed off, eyes trained on something in the distance that Nathaniel couldn’t see. “And I handed it all over to him. I let him convince me that I couldn’t cut it.”

“Marinette…”

“I let him use my designs and he got a promotion and broke up with me, and I got let go from a job I thought I loved.” She took a long sip of her cocoa. “So I moved back here and I’m just…I don’t know, lost maybe? Like I thought I knew where my life was going, right? And suddenly I’m back at square one without a single clue as to where to go next.”

Nathaniel laughed softly, shaking his head.

“What?”

“That just sounds too familiar. My mom has asked me to come home for the holidays every year since I moved away and every year, I’ve had a reason not to. And this year I realized that I was completely alone in London. Tara was gone and most of my friends had been her friends. So I was sitting there, reading my mom’s email and ready to respond with some excuse and I thought why not go home. I’ve got nothing left here.”

“I thought you said you were just visiting.”

He ducked his head, his cheeks going pink from something other than the cold. “I was, but maybe it feels like there might be more for me here than there.”

Marinette smiled but her eyes tightened. “You know, I was really excited to see you the other night and I would love it if you were back here more permanently, but, uh, I don’t know if I’m exactly ready to be back in a relationship yet. I don’t think I realized that until just now, but I think I need to figure some things out.”

Nathaniel pursed his lips. “If I’m being honest with myself, that’s probably what I need to.” He drank some more cocoa. “What about friendship?”

“I think that’s a good start,” she said, the tension in her face easing away. “And then we’ll see,” she added, her cheeks darkening.

“And then we’ll see,” Nathaniel echoed with a grin.

Snow began to fall around them and Marinette inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. “I love the snow.” She tilted her head back and the silver bells attached to the pink bow in her hair made a soft tinkling sound. Nathaniel watched the snowflakes attach to her hair and eyelashes and he realized he had never seen anything more beautiful. “No matter how many times it happens a season, it always feels brand new,” she sighed, turning her head to look at him.

“A fresh start.”

Marinette put her hand over his. “Exactly.”


End file.
